Sep 9, 2009

On Today's Show: www.crntalk.com

John Lennon: The Life - Phillip Norman
A volatile and violent hippie, family man, junkie, humorist, artist, and a phenomenally wealthy advocate of no possessions, John Lennon was a man of contradictions, loved the world over and yet misunderstood by the millions that idolized him. Now, building on more than three years of in-depth, exhaustive research and exclusive interviews, award-winning novelist and biographer Philip Norman brings to life the portrait of this complex man in the fascinating and definitive new book, JOHN LENNON: The Life, the must-read book for all Beatles fans. With a post-script from Sean Lennon, who has never been interviewed on record about his father before, and dozens of never-before-seen photos and documents, JOHN LENNON explores every facet of Lennon’s life—from his childhood in Liverpool, the early years of the Beatles playing all-night in Hamburg, and Beatlemania at its height to his first LSD trip, the band’s infighting during his Yoko years and the lead-up to the evening of his murder in 1980. Going back to the beginning of the story, as he did in his bestselling book Shout!, Norman disregarded everything previously written about Lennon, even by him. He drew on unprecedented access to Lennon’s photos, art work, and diaries, as well as hundreds of interviews with Paul McCartney, family including Yoko, his son Sean and cousins in Britain , and Beatles’ roadies and producers. With unparalleled insight into Lennon and McCartney’s creative partnership, JOHN LENNON tells the story behind some of the Beatles biggest hits. “Paperback Writer” grew out of a comment by a friend of theirs in 1960 who remarked that his only aspiration in life was to be a paperback writer; “Help!,” much more than just a title song to a Beatles movie, was really John’s cry out to his friends; and, “In My Life” was written at a time when his aunt Mimi moved out of his childhood home. Norman first covered the Beatles in 1969 from the Apple building in Mayfair , where he had front row seats to the band’s break-up and the looting of their business empire. Back then, he spent a morning with Yoko one day in John’s office, and later, after his publication of Shout!, he was invited to meet her at the Dakota, only five months after John’s death. He interviewed her several times over the years until, in 2003, he persuaded her that a “real” biography on the scale of Nelson Mandela or John Keats was needed. The result is a portrait of a far more damaged, insecure and obsessive John than most people have ever imagined, but one that will not make fans love him any less. An extraordinarily detailed and vibrant account of a legendary musician, JOHN LENNON is destined to be the final word on a man who continues to inspire millions more than two decades after his death. Much like Norman ’s Shout!, which was praised as “the definitive biography” of the Beatles, JOHN LENNON is a must have for every fan of the Beatles.

Julie Davis - Parentgiving.com
Parentgiving.com was created to help time-starved caregivers provide better care for their aging parents by providing: in-depth information and helpful checklists about a variety of caregiving topics; on-call professional care managers who possess the expertise and experience necessary to help navigate through the maze of caregiving; and a more enlightened shopping experience at the Shop Parentgiving store, where family caregivers can learn about and shop for the products and supplies that best fit their aging parents’ needs. So whether yu are a new caregiver or have been caring for your aging parent for years, Parentgiving.com is here to answer your questions, streamline your time, reduce your stress and simplify your life.

Ben Schwartz - "Why is Daddy in a Dress"
From the authors of the wickedly loveable Grandma’s Dead, comes a new book of postcards filled with precious baby animals asking life’s most awkward questions. By Amanda McCall & Ben Schwartz Some questions in life are just too awkward to ask out loud. Fortunately, the brilliant authors of Grandma’s Dead have the solution: precious baby animal postcards that will do the dirty work for you: WHY IS DADDY IN A DRESS? Asking Awkward Questions with Baby Animals (Harper; Trade Paperback Original; On Sale : August 18, 2009; $9.99). These fuzzy little kittens, puppies, ducklings, and bunnies will ask the questions you’re too afraid (or too polite) to ask yourself. Asking your girlfriend to shave your back is simple when there’s a cute little kitten doing the dirty work. And your friend will be too busy cooing over a precious puppy in a flower patch to notice that he just agreed to give you his kidney. Some other awkward questions include: Can we stop cuddling?Mom, did you smoke my pot?Why is there a body in your bathtub?Is this herpes?Are you screwing the boss?Why are you naked?Can I have a kidney? Mommy, what’s a blowjob?